INCREASED VIGILANCE LEADS TO MORE PRESCRIPTION-DRUG FRAUD ARRESTS

The number of prescription-drug fraud arrests in central Wisconsin has more
than tripled in a year, largely because of increased awareness among
pharmacists and doctors.

The Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force had 48 pharmaceutical-related arrests
in 2001 compared with 14 in 2000. Out of the state's 32 task forces, the
central Wisconsin group had the most pharmaceutical-related arrests by far,
said Sterling Dewitt, Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance.

Wisconsin Rapids Police Det. Phyllis Wesener said several factors are
behind the number. Doctors are alert for suspicious activities, pharmacists
question unusual prescriptions and both groups are reporting illegal
activities. District attorneys also are willing to prosecute
prescription-drug offenses, Wesener said.

Doctors are more aware of problems with patients trying to obtain drugs
fraudulently, said Marshfield Police Chief Joseph Stroik. They aren't
prescribing large quantities of addictive drugs, he said.

People who get involved with illegally taking prescription drugs don't
think of themselves as "druggies" or "drug addicts" the way they think of
people using marijuana or cocaine, Stevens Point Police Sgt. Mike Retzki
said. The possession of any prescription drug without a prescription is
illegal, Wesener said.

Drugs that get abused fall into three basic categories, Wesener said. There
are stimulants, like Ritalin; central nervous system depressants, like
Valium or Xanax; and opiates, or hard narcotics, like Percost.

Some people go to multiple doctors in different communities and complain of
the same symptoms to get multiple prescriptions for the same drugs, and
that's fraud, Wesener said.

The Stevens Point Police Department has initiated a Prescription Fraud
Program in which doctors, pharmacists and police work together to catch
people trying to get prescription drugs fraudulently, Retzki said.

As a result, tampering with prescriptions is going down, he said. However,
as prescription fraud decreases, other means of getting drugs illegally
increase.

Law enforcement sees nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs in every
age group. "It's across the board," Wesener said. "I probably deal with as
many adults as kids."

Part of the problem with stopping pharmaceutical-related crimes is that
every case is different, Stroik said. For example:

. Last week in Stevens Point, officers solved a burglary in which the
thief's purpose was to steal prescription drugs, Retzki said.

. A 45-year-old Port Edwards woman was sentenced to six months in jail on
Monday for charges stemming from the theft of pain patches from people in a
nursing home. She peeled open the patches and licked the gel from inside to
"get high."

. A 16-year-old Stevens Point boy, waived into adult court, pleaded not
guilty in Wood County Circuit Court on Monday to three counts of delivery
of a controlled substance and two counts of delivery of a prescription
medication without a prescription. The boy is accused of selling
prescription drugs at a Wisconsin Rapids school. State and national
agencies are increasingly aware of the problem.

Wesener has been selected by the national Drug Enforcement Administration
to be the representative from Wisconsin at a two-week training session on
nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs at the FBI Academy in
Quantico, Va., from July 22 to Aug. 2.

"It's nice the DEA is recognizing the need to train local agencies in this
area," Wesener said.